Sick
by ssbailey
Summary: When Hotch gets sick on a friday JJ takes him home with her for the weekend. JJ/Hotch


**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.**

**A/N: So I read this quote earlier and this idea just wouldn't leave me alone until I got it out. :) Anyways...I hope you all like it and Please review if you do! **

Sick

_"Tis healthy to be sick sometimes"-Henry David Throeau_

_----_

"Hey Hotch, here's my report from the last case..." JJ said apologetically as she smiled a small smile, "Sorry it's so late, I had to run home and show the baby sitter where Henry's medicine was."

"Is everything okay?" he asked sincerely as he took the offered report, knowing how hard it had been on the both of them since Will had abandoned them. "How's he doing?" _Achoo!_

"Yea we're okay. Henry's doing better now that he's getting used to getting the Lovanox shot every day. Sometimes I wish he was just old enough to swallow the pill version already so I wouldn't have to give him the shots, but then I remember that I like him like he is now, ya know? I'm not ready for him to grow up just yet."

"Did they ever give you a name for his condition? I know keeping him on blood thinners can't be easy... Every time Jack goes to the doctor he'll run out of the room if the word shot is even mentioned." _Achoo! _He asked, surprising himself at how much he was opening up to his colleague that was currently standing in front of his desk.

"The doctors told me it was something called Protein C Deficiency. They tested me as well, but I don't have it so it must've come from...from his biological dad. They think some sort of allergic reaction triggered the initial clot to form and then it went from there." she said as she watched her boss, and friend, clear his throat before loosening his collar some, "Everything okay Hotch?"

"What?...Yea, why?" _Achoo! Achoo! _"I just need some allergy medicine or something. I'll be fine, JJ. You can head home now if you want, I know the others have already left for the night."

"Yea and just leave you here to die?" she asks sarcastically as she moves to help him up from his desk, "C'mon lets go, I'm taking you to that new out patient clinic that's just opened up a couple miles away. You sound like you're about to cough up a lung..."

"What? No...really I'll be fine JJ. Look, I promise I'll leave for the night as soon as I finish looking over these reports, okay?" he adds, not wanting to be anyone's burden, but when she immediately surrenders he wonders briefly if it was too easy to get her to back off, but then changes his mind as she walks out his office door making him promise to call if he needs anything.

It isn't until about an hour later that he realizes the small smile that's taken up residence on his lips. Sometimes it's just nice to know that someone cares.

-----

When the last report is read, signed, and added to the _'completed'_ tray on his desk top, the watch on his wrist informs him that it's well past quitting time and he still has to stop by the drugstore on the way home to pick up something for his now sandpaper throat and throbbing head, not to mention the constant sneezing. Reid would probably diagnose him with the flu if given the opportunity, and that makes him glad that today is a Friday and that he has the weekend off to get over whatever this is.

Standing and slipping on his suit coat, his hands swiftly find his elusive keys before grabbing his bag, which is seemingly lighter than normal due to the fact that his head feels like it's four times it's normal size, making it harder for him to work on the cold cases he's been taking home to look at on the weekends. That drug incudced sleep is looking better and better as he makes his way out of his office, completely missing the two blondes sitting on the floor next to his door until one of them clears her throat and then the other giggles.

A little startled he turns to find JJ and a very awake and alert Henry sitting by the door to his office, waiting. Surprise must have shown on his face because the first words out of her mouth remind him that it really had been too easy to end their conversation earlier. "What? You didn't think we were _actually_ going to let you go home alone did you?" she scoffs as she stands up with her son, while he stands there stunned that she actually waited around for him because she knew he was sick and all alone. "Now c'mon...I've got some cough syrup and a bottle of Ny Quil with your name on it."

"Well at least let me get you dinner, JJ. You've gotta be hungry if you've been sitting out here for the past three hours." He says, surprised at the fact that he's suddenly agreed to go home with her for the night. Maybe it was just the fact that he didn't want to spend the night both alone _and_ completely miserable.

"Thanks for the offer, but I've already got that covered...for the both of us. My neighbor was all too happy to make her famous chicken noodle soup when I mentioned that you were coming over..." she drops off there as they enter the elevator and he groans in remembrance of the old lady who'd pinched his backside while he'd been helping JJ put out her Christmas lights a few months earlier. "Oh so you do remember Mrs. Hinkle...She'll be so happy to hear that." she adds, her completely innocent appeal working in overdrive as she pretends not to notice his shudder at the mention of her "interesting" neighbor.

The ride in the elevator ends quickly, and he wordlessly pockets his keys so he can hold the little boy now squirming in his mother's arms to get a better look at the red tie he'd chosen to wear today. When they reach her car he starts to wonder if the reason he's letting her take care of him is because he misses that part of his relationship with Hailey. It was nice to know that someone would always be home when you got there, sick or not. Maybe he could pretend, just for the weekend, that he still had a family at home if he went home with JJ and Henry, even if Mrs. Hinkle _was_ right next door.

A throat clears a few feet away from him and he now notices that without realizing it he's gone through the motions of putting Henry in his seat and fastening him in like it were any other day, and they were just another normal family heading home for the night. She lets him have his day dream, subconciously knowing he needs it at the moment, and silently offers him the keys as she hops in the passenger seat of the car. Being with Aaron Hotchner has always been one of her fantasies, and if letting him pretend that they're some sort of family will help him, she's got no complaints.

-----

Three bowls of soup, two hours, one dose of Ny Quil, and one sleeping toddler later finds them making small talk as they make up her couch while he waits for the medicne he's just taken to work it's magic. Waking up without something aching seems like a dream of it's own as he helps her spread out the sheets on his make shift bed. It isn't until she bids him goodnight and turns to leave that he gets the courage to ask the question that's been invading his mind since he first noticed her waiting for him. "Why?"

His question seems to startle her, and she freezes before turning around to face him, "Why what?"

"Why'd you stay tonight JJ? Why are you taking care of me?" he asks, silently wondering when he got this brave. In the field Aaron Hotchner was the "Go To" man, he was in control of every situation and he was always there when someone needed him, but it was at night that his insecurities usually made their appearance, and the fact that he'd never been really good with emotions wasn't helping in the slightest.

"I don't know if you're ready for the honest answer, Aaron..." she says, but it comes out as a tired sigh, "And I don't want to lie to you..."

"Then don't..." he says surprisingly strong as a yawn escapes him, followed by a sneeze. If there's anything he dislikes in the world more than murderers it's lying, and deep down he knows that has something to do with the fact that, that was all his father ever seemed capable of doing. He's so caught up in the memory of his father's frequent "stories" that he's barely noticed that she's closed the distance between them.

He looks down at her, his brown eyes full of unanswered questions as she whispers a quiet "Okay..." before kissing him softly. The feel of her lips on his is something that he realizes he never wants to forget any time soon as she pulls out of the kiss slowly.

The next kiss between them is one that is all him as he let his hands drift into her hair while hers come up to rest on the back of his neck. Their new found bliss is cut short however by a yawn that escapes his lips as the medicine he swallowed over an hour ago finally begins to slowly kick in. After snuggling into his chest for a few seconds she takes his hand wordlessly and leads him to her bedroom to sleep for the night. They both know they're going to have to talk about what's just happened between them, but that's a conversation for another time and place, right now the only thing on their minds is sleep and lots of it.

As the two settle in for the night, they both have to smile a little when the only way they seem to be able to find any sleep is by having his arm wrapped around her stomach, and it isn't long until they both fall under the Sandman's spell.

-----

The rest of the weekend is full of nothing and everything at the same time. It's the little things like watching old movies and making pancakes with Henry that make him want to stay like this forever, not just for the weekend. And by the look on her face when she catches him watching her she feels exactly the same way, so by the time Monday morning rolls around he's already promised her that he'll come back over after work and that he'll call her if he gets the chance. Like she would have actually been able to keep him away after this weekend, he's never felt so alive before and if this is how he will always feel after spending time with her and Henry, he can't wait until Jack can stay with them for the night as well. The thought of the four of them spending time together brings a smile to his face as he makes his way to the break room in search of his second cup of coffee for the morning.

"Morning Hotch" Morgan mumbles, his hangover still not completely gone as he pours two packets of creamer into his coffee.

"Morning" he says in a voice that would be considered merely happy for the normal person, but for Aaron Hotchner it was practically sing-song.

"Any new cases?" his coworker asks and he can tell that his interest is peeked at the very uncharectoristic mood he seems to be in.

"No, JJ actually won't be coming in today" he mentions as he pours himself his own cup of the dark brown liquid and taking a sip. He's always been more of a straight black coffee drinker, the bitter taste somehow feeling completely appropriate as he looks at the autopsy photos of mutilated corpses.

"Oh. Why? Everything okay?" Morgan asks worriedly as Reid slumps into the room. Apparently the young genius wasn't always hyper all the time after all.

"Yea, you know it's just that flu bug that's been going around lately..." he says shrugging nonchalantly as he leaves the room and heads back to his office.

"Hey Morgan...wasn't Hotch sick on Friday?" Reid asks as if its the most innocent question in the world.

Chuckling slightly Derek lets a shit eating grin cover his face, "My Man!" he says as the light goes on in his head on just how his blonde friend got sick. "I've got to find Garcia...she's going to love this..." he mumbles to himself as he leaves the room and a slightly confused Reid in his wake.


End file.
